Solution for vibrations after installing alloy wheels

This is a discussion on Solution for vibrations after installing alloy wheels within Tyre & Alloy wheel Section, part of the Modifications & Accessories category; Wolf - It should be a balancing issue as KP mentioned so get that checked. Otherwise check & make sure ...

the primary reason for aftermarket wheel vibration is lack of hubcentric rings (spigots).

All aftermarket wheels will usually come with bigger hub centre bores which means the wheels are only held in place by the wheel studs against the hub - this can cause vibration and in severe cases cause your lugs to break!

make sure all aftermarket wheels are fitted with hubcentric rings and then wheels aligned.

the primary reason for aftermarket wheel vibration is lack of hubcentric rings (spigots).

make sure all aftermarket wheels are fitted with hubcentric rings and then wheels aligned.

Good advice Evolve but the problem is availability of the spigots in our market. Considering that very few percentage of after market Alloys sold in India are
actually made here the rings are not available easily. Also, the sellers selling the wheels are also not experienced/technical enough to know of these solutions off hand and make them mainstream.

you can easily machine a decent set of rings ant any engineering shop. Its just critical to get the dimension absolutely spot on. No wider and no bigger than neccessary. If you read up on forums about your centre bore diameter - you can compensate the difference with accurately machined rings. Also make sure they are tappered correctly.

After installing new alloys I had steering wobble at speeds between 100 and 120kmph. Got the balacing done and the problem seems to have disappeared (tried until 140kmph). After going through this thread, I removed the alloy cap and inspected. Found that it is currently lug centric. On stock wheels it was hub centric. Thinking of getting hub centric rings. Do you think this is required?

Also even after small rides (say 10kms in city traffic) I find that the front alloys are really heated up. The back wheels are at normal temperature. Is this normal? Could the alloy be rubbing against something?

After installing new alloys I had steering wobble at speeds between 100 and 120kmph. Got the balacing done and the problem seems to have disappeared (tried until 140kmph). After going through this thread, I removed the alloy cap and inspected. Found that it is currently lug centric. On stock wheels it was hub centric. Thinking of getting hub centric rings. Do you think this is required?

Your scenario seems to be identical to that of mine. The old Santro's steel rim has a bore dia of 67 mm (this is the bore at the centre) and PCD 114.3 mm. The PCD matches precisely with those of my alloys (Neo Star SM). But the bore dia for the alloys is mentioned in the website as minimum 58.4 mm and maximum 70 mm. So does this mean that the the alloys have a variable (tapered) bore, so that it will match all hub dias in this range? Not sure of this. In any case I had a problem of the car wobbling at high speeds initially (at ~130 kmph) but this was due to inaccurate tyre pressures. After taking care of these and also proper balancing/alignment, I have no problems at all even at ~160 kmph.

Quote:

Also even after small rides (say 10kms in city traffic) I find that the front alloys are really heated up. The back wheels are at normal temperature. Is this normal? Could the alloy be rubbing against something?

Same observation in my case. But this does not seem to be anything unusual. The heat is generated by the disc brakes and the alloy wheels are supposed to be good dissipators for this heat. I have driven about 26000 kms on these alloys and the braking is superb, as is the car's high speed handling.

The old Santro's steel rim has a bore dia of 67 mm (this is the bore at the centre) and PCD 114.3 mm. The PCD matches precisely with those of my alloys (Neo Star SM). But the bore dia for the alloys is mentioned in the website as minimum 58.4 mm and maximum 70 mm. So does this mean that the the alloys have a variable (tapered) bore, so that it will match all hub dias in this range?

Yes, I found that the centre bore in the alloy wheels is tapered. So it looks like in my case the wheel is hub-centric. Makes sense because there is no vibration problem even at speeds like ~160 kmph, as I pointed out. But still, I will have to confirm this theory.

The old Santro's steel rim has a bore dia of 67 mm (this is the bore at the centre) and PCD 114.3 mm.

As far as I know, Santro PCD is 100 & wheel diameter of 54.5mm (measured with vernier caliper). Also, don't feel that wheel dia. would be different for old models(ZipDrive,ZipPlus) compared to new models (Xing).

Originally Posted by rks
As far as I know, Santro PCD is 100 & wheel diameter of 54.5mm (measured with vernier caliper). Also, don't feel that wheel dia. would be different for old models(ZipDrive,ZipPlus) compared to new models (Xing).

No, the Xing's wheel is different from that of old Santro. The old Santro's specs are available from this post, where I have given the source:

Guys - Quick Question.
I own a Maruti Zen (2003) and have installed BSA Racing Alloys (BSA 229) with Bridgestone 165/65R13 Tubeless Tyres on them. The original rim size was 12' and to install the 13' Alloys i had to raise the car (Added spacers into the Shocks). I was going through this post and found a similar problem that i have been facing (Vibrations > 80Kmph). For this particular model of Alloys the PCD is mentioned as 98mm - 114.3mm (Not sure why there is a range provided here) and my Zen has a PCD of 98mm. I'm not too sure if the vibrations are because of the difference. I keep getting my wheels balanced at regular intervals so i dont think its because of that. Also if i need to install Hub Centric Rings, someone please guide me to a guy who can make them in Hyderabad.
Thanks!